With a simultaneous launch across five European cities, the 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulietta launch sounds like the sort of soirée you’d expect for an all new, brand-defining model.

Except there’s no new model in sight - just a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tweak to the existing Giulietta range.

Styled to follow in the footsteps of the larger Giulia sedan, the Giulietta features a fresh face, with more mesh and less chrome, and a black-out mask on the carryover lower bumper, to give a more sporting style.

At the rear, there’s revised badging, a new diffuser-style insert appears between the tail pipes of the sportiest version, along with tinted tail lights, but again there’s little in the way of a revolutionary restyle.

The model range has changed however, with three variants available: Giulietta, Giulietta Super, and Giulietta Veloce, with the Voloce taking the place of the previous Golf GTI rivalling Quadrifoglio Verde.

European customers will be offered a range of nine different engines, four petrols ranging from 89kW to 179kW (in the Veloce), four diesel engines from 89kW to 130Kw, and an 89kW Petrol/LPG dual fuel model. Both manual and dual-clutch transmission will be offered.

Inside the Giulietta carries over with no changes to major interior components like the dash or instrument cluster, however new colours and finishes have been applied througout.

New 5.0-inch and 6.5-inch Uconnect infotainment units occupy the centre of the dash, and include new Uconnect LIVE services, including streaming music, news, and TomTom LIVE navigation, as well as native Facebook and Twitter connectivity through a compatible smartphone.

The mid-grade Giulietta Super will offer two option packages, with the Veloce appearance package bringing the exterior into line with the Giulietta Veloce, while the Lusso package adds leather trim and the larger Uconnect system.